Meta is abandoning the use of third-party fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram in the US and will replace it with X-style “community feedback,” where feedback on the accuracy of posts is left to users.
In a video posted next to it Blog post “It's time to go back to our roots on freedom of expression,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday.
Joel Kaplan, who He will replace Sir Nick Clegg As Meta's head of global affairs, he wrote that the company's reliance on independent brokers was “well-intentioned” but went too far.
“Too much harmless content is being censored,” he wrote, adding that Meta “too often gets in the way of the freedom of expression we set out to enable.”
The transition to the community feedback system will occur gradually over the coming months in the United States.
The system — which Meta says has seen “work on X” — sees people with different viewpoints agree on feedback that adds context or clarification to controversial posts.
The company's blog post said it would also work to “roll back the mission creep” of rules and policies — highlighting the removal of restrictions on topics including “immigration, gender and gender identity” — saying it had led to political discussion and debate.
“We are eliminating a number of restrictions on topics such as immigration, sexual identity and gender that are the subject of frequent political discourse and debate,” the document states.
“It's not right for things to be said on television or on the floor of Congress, but not on our platforms.”
These changes come as technology companies and their executives prepare for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.
Trump has previously been an outspoken critic of Meta and its approach to content moderation.
He described Facebook as an “enemy of the people” in March 2024.
But relations between the two men have improved since then – Mr. Zuckerberg Dinner at Trump's Florida estate At Mar-a-Lago in November.
“The recent election also appears to be a cultural turning point toward prioritizing freedom of expression once again,” Zuckerberg said in the video on Tuesday.
Mr Kaplan's replacement of Sir Nick Clegg – the former Liberal Democrat deputy prime minister – as head of the company's global affairs was also interpreted by many analysts as a sign of the company's changing approach to moderation and its changing political priorities.
In a statement announcing he would step down on January 2, Sir Nick said his successor was “quite clearly the right person for the right job at the right time”.
